Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Turmeric known as Haldi in Hindi and Halud in Bengali, is another spice omnipresent in Indian culture, not only in cooking but also as a part of various other rituals.It is a member of the Ginger family and is native to South East Asia. The root is dried and ground to a fine bright Yellow Powder which is used extensively to flavor and color Indian curries. The Sanskrit word for Turmeric is Haridra which means “Yellow Wood” and that is what the dried root looks like. The spice has an earthy, bitter flavor, and it is added to Indian curries in a very small proportion as an excess of it ruins the taste

Turmeric is also used extensively in Indian rituals and signifies prosperity and fertility. In Indian Hindu weddings, applying turmeric paste to the bride and groom on the morning of the wedding is an important part of the wedding ceremony. In Bengali weddings its the grooms side who send this turmeric paste along with several other gifts for the bride on the morning of the wedding and these gifts are known as "Gaye Halud er Tatwa"

In the Southern Part of India, Turmeric is also a offered to married women as part of a ritual called “Haldi Kumkum”. Please correct me as I am not much aware of this ritual.

Why Turmeric Is Good For You

InAyurveda Medicine, turmeric is considered to have numerous medicinal properties. It was considered as an antiseptic and antibacterial agent in India and was used for cuts and burns. It was also said to purify blood and my Ma insisted that a small ball of turmeric paste & jaggery (fresh turmeric was used for this and not the powder) eaten every morning would purify the blood and alleviate all stomach problems. Its another thing that the pungent taste of freshly grated or ground turmeric didn’t actually salivate my taste buds and so I would keep away from those tiny balls of goodness

Turmeric contains Curcumin which is anti-inflammatory and used for psoriasis treatment.Recent studies have shown that turmeric reduces cholesterol, blocks progression of neurological diseases like Alzheimers and works wonder in short

A very nice and appetizing way to include fresh Turmeric in my diet other than the powder which I simply cannot live without is something I learnt from M (not a Bong but a Marathi), a cousin of my cousin M. So say M1 is my cousin and M2 is M1’s cousin. Now M2 (an excellent cook) has been very kind and has fed me delectable food on two occasions, but stupid me has lost her number and since M1 has moved back to India, have never been able to call M2 since.Now once when we were at M2’s for dinner she declared “I have to have green chillies with my meal, I love munching on them and I always do this”, saying which she took out a pretty flat container from the refrigerator where in there were sliced vibrant green chillies and slivers of bright orange carrot like thing floating in lime juice. Very happily I too took some of the chillies and the “orange” thing thinking all the time “why the carrot tasted different”. On finally giving voice to my thought, M2 said the weren’t carrots but juliennes of fresh turmeric and I was hooked.

Turmeric in Lime Juice

Since then I buy fresh yellow turmeric from the Indian Grocery Store when ever I remember to do so, peel the outer skin, cut them up in juliennes, slit some green chillies, squeeze some lime juice and let the slivers of turmeric and green chillies soak in the lime juice with a little salt.Refrigerate them and they stay good for couple of weeks. As the days go by the pungent flavor of turmeric is mellowed down and they taste better. So if you do not like them on Day One give them a try couple of days later.Have it with your meal as a substitute for the pickle or let the pickle be and have it as one more thing with your meal.

Update: From all the comments I wanted to make a few updates which I think would be useful for everyoneShilpa of Flog&Rosbif said she doesn't like the "staining" part which is true. I forgot to say, chopping up the turmeric may stain the chopping board so put a plastic wrap on your chopping board and then chop. Hands can be cleaned with rubbing lime on them, and even simple soap & water is fine. But if you have a French Manicure...Maheshwariof Beyond The Usual said they use Turmeric for removing odor of meat while cookingKitchenFairy of Secret of Taste and Giniof Salt & Pepper said that turmeric paste was used for cosmetic purposes. Yeah applying turmeric paste on your face etc. is one of the many popular uses in IndiaSupriyaof Spice Corner says even the leaves are used to make some dishes for Ganesh Chaturthi.Sunitaof Sunita's World said they have a custom similar to Bengali Weddings called "mah-halodhi"

Sandeepa, as a child every now and then my mother would make me eat fresj turmeric. SInce it tasted so awful, I have never even thought of trying it again! Now your method seems to be a good way to get the benefits of kaancha halud without the taste ptoblem!

Very interesting info,loved reading it Sandeepa!Thanks:))I love root turmeric too,smells so good and great color too instead of that powder you get.I just finished typing a spice too ,a Mexican for WBB!

Gr8 Info. Unfortunately I dont get fresh turmeric in my area. Also you were right abt the "haldi-kunkum" in south india. The newly married bride gets a plate filled with haldi, kumkum, a fruit, beetle nut leaf, supari and a gift evrytime she visits someone.

Interesting!!My mother used to give me the fresh turmeric paste not to eat to put that on my face to make me beautiful(Hhahaha).But really messy.Here fresh turmeric is available.For cough and all this will work?

Oh..great entry for WHB.Loved the write up.Never tried buying frsh turmeric here though.We use this alot while cleaning meat and cooking meat with this helps takeout the odor.From beauty to cookery , everywhere it is so helpful.

In Assamese weddings, the grooms family send the paste of turmeric and urad dal(mah-halodhi) for the bride. This is applied to the bride during the ceremonial bath on the morning of the wedding.It is supposed to be a good cleanser...more like a scrub.

Even I never liked the bitterness in raw turmeric. Ma used to give it later with honey, which was more bearable.

Oh Sandeepa, you are too kind to go to all that trouble for us devoted readers! :) Thanks for the tip, and in case you missed mine on how to get rids of smells on fingertips (maybe you aleady know the trick yourself), just rub your fingers on anything stainless steel under running water, and like magic, it disappears!

Lovely post Sandeepa. Turmeric also has a lot of significance in rituals among Tamil brahmins. It is generally given to all married women - as a sign of blessing whenever they leave home, dried or fresh. And we just had a festival yesterday - nonbu, where a yellow sacred thread is passed through a slice of turmeric and worn around the neck. Turmeric is as Indian as it gets.Even Gujarati and other north indian weddings have this 'haldi' ritual a day or two before marriage I guess

Sandeepa, thanks for your visit to my blog and nudge to post something. I finally did - been very busy last few weeks but did post something I had made and photographed nearly a month ago but never finished writing the recipe down!

I love fresh turmeric...but never had them after coming to US. In Gujarat its called lili haldi...my granny to use to make it the sameway. I will be looking for them in indian grocery next time :) Thanks sandeepa.

Sandeepa, that was one informative post. Loved it. My mom made me drink milk with a spoon of turmeric and some pepper pwd when I had a bad throat. Worked well, but I hated it:) We make this pickle too. I add some hing as well. The exact recipe is also made with something called manga-inji. No, No, not ingipennu of inji manga. Manga-ingi is a similar root that has a taste of raw mango and ginger. I sometimes get it at the local Indian store. I'll blog about it once I manage to find it.

Informative post on turmeric - so auspicious to us Indians. Pinch of haldi with sandalwood paste works wonders for the skin. It works for me but then quite a few are allergic turmeric and develop a rash.

Turmeric is truly an awesome herb. I have used it in the past medically for Crohn's disease and try to add it to dishes when I can. I find that it goes well in rice, and quesadillas. You gotta love the color it adds to things.

sunita's right about turmeric's cosmetic use, particularly before weddings. some groups say that the color symbolizes virginity, but it is also great for the skin, very cooling in hot weather, and makes you glow.it seems that fresh turmeric is only used medicinally in india, although it it occasionally treated as a vegetable or pickled, although this is often with white turmeric (amba hald) rather than the common red or yellow turmeric. turmeric paste, such as what is used on the skin, is often ground from the dried rhizomes that have been soaked in water. i use the fresh red turmeric for skin, mixed with sandal powder. i also use it to make thai dishes such as yellow curry, which uses lots of fresh turmeric.however, what to do with the pound of white turmeric i have been keeping?

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine